Sensex, Nifty Soar To Record Closing Highs Led By Financial Shares

Stock Market Updates: The S&P BSE Sensex index touched an all-time high of 47,406.72 in early trade.

The Sensex ended 380.21 points, or 0.81 per cent, higher at 47,353.75 while the Nifty settled at 13,873.20, up 123.95 points, or 0.90 per cent, from its previous close — both record closing highs. (Track Sensex , Nifty Here)
Forty one stocks in the Nifty basket of 50 shares finished higher for the day. JSW Steel, Tata Motors, State Bank of India (SBI), Titan and HDFC Life, ending between 3.20 per cent and 5.83 per cent higher, were the top percentage gainers in the index. On the other hand, Britannia, Shree cement, Cipla, Sun pharma and Hindustan Unilever, closing 0.33-0.47 per cent lower each, were the top Nifty laggards. (Also Read: Stocks To Watch Today)
HDFC Bank, HDFC, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the biggest drags on Sensex. (Also Read: Rangebound Trade, Volatility Likely In Markets As Year Comes To A Close, Say Analysts)
Broader Asian shares rose at the start of the final trading week of 2020 as Mr Trump signed into law a pandemic aid and spending package, averting a partial government shutdown in the US.
"Absence of negative triggers is more relevant now... There is no sign of reversal of liquidity or interest rate trajectory and as long as those signs are not there, the markets will continue to chug along," said Deepak Jasani, head of research, HDFC Securities.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have fuelled the recent rally in the domestic markets, having net invested Rs 62,648 crore into Indian capital markets so far this month, including Rs 56,643 crore in equities alone, according to NSDL data. With this, December is on track to become a third straight month of net inflows into the capital markets.
"Normally, FII inflows are weak in December. But this year has been an exception. The declining dollar, expectations that it will decline further in 2021, the historical low interest rates and the Federal Reserve's commitment to keep rates low through 2023 are the factors behind this relentless FII inflows," VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Kochi-based Geojit Financial Services, told NDTV.
The markets took support from gains across Asian markets, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan trading 0.12 per cent higher at the last count. Japan's Nikkei 225 benchmark was up 0.61 per cent.
"This trend is likely to continue in the coming days too unless the US central bank indicates tapering its bond buying program... The Nifty is likely to be around the current levels at the end of the year," Mr Vijayakumar added.
Global stock markets have been awash with large amounts of liquidity, thanks to measures taken by various central banks to help cope with the fallout from the ongoing pandemic.

(With inputs from agencies)